01 Volkswagen
- 我ID




Background:
In 2020, Volkswagen globally launched ID., a new fleet of all-electric vehicles.
But in China, VW’s biggest market, foreign brands who don’t adapt, don’t make it very far.

In this highly nationalistic market, Volkswagen needed to prove its ID. cars are still made in ever-reliable VW factories, without bluntly copy-pasting its global marketing approach.


Insight:
Chinese NEV buyers are younger than the previous generation of petrol car owners.
They are hyper-individual who want to express their own unique identities and improve their own lives. Above everything else, they do not believe in the overpromising brands who claim they can change the world. Yet, they expect foreign brands to respect the local culture.


Idea:
Volkswagen presents “我ID.” – The Chinese Makeover.
Adapting the global ID. logo into a Chinese Gen Z emblem of empowerment.


Execution:
First things first, we analyzed the global ID. logo and broke it down into individual strokes.

Then, we did the same with the most commonly used character in the Chinese alphabet: “我” (me).
By combining both, we seamlessly blended East & West to create a whole new language,
and wrote a generational slogan with just two characters: 我ID。(wo ID / my identity).


The new 我ID. emblem embedded itself into Gen Z culture, spread by countless art creators & social media influencers. One of Gen Z’s rising stars, rapper Tai Yi, even made a whole anthem song called “It Starts With Me”.

Cleverly designed for social, the 我ID. emblem was then used in all ID. communication materials and marketing activities for the last 2 years, completely replacing the global ID. logo.


Results:
The campaign over-achieved on KPI goals and generated substantially higher social buzz for the entire VW brand. With 14.35million unique visitors, the ID. brand website saw the highest traffic during our campaign period, compared to major NEV competitors.

More importantly, Gen Z polling indicated 74% positive sentiment towards VW, up from 43% the previous year.
 
Thanks to the 我ID. campaign, Volkswagen China captured this Gen Z audience & their desire to be individualistic, enabling both the VW brand and its fans to stand out from the crowd.